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Being Boring
'Being Boring' was the second single from 'Behaviour', released immediately following the album. It was not released North America. Background Julian Mendelsohn extended the album cut of 'Being Boring' for the extended version, and Marshall Jefferson remixed it for the limited edition releases. The B-side was 'We All Feel Better In The Dark'. This song was written in while they were in Scotland, and they have often said that this is the favourite song they've ever composed. Neil said, "I'd got the idea of writing a song called 'Being boring' after someone in Japan said something about us being boring; it just seemed to be a very musical phrase and I wrote it down. And I liked the idea of confronting this image of the Pet Shop Boys being boring by actually writing a song called that." Neil wrote 'Your Funny Uncle' about a friend of his who had died of AIDS, and this is the same person 'Being Boring' song revolves around: "He threw a party in Newcastle in 1972 where you had to dress in white, and it was called The Great Urban Dionysia, and it had a quotation on the invitation from 1922, from Zelda Fitzgerald, F. Scott Fitzgerald's wife, which the phrase 'being boring' had made me think of. The quote was: '…she covered her face with powder and paint because she didn't need it and she refused to be bored chiefly because she wasn't boring. She was conscious that the things she did were the things she had always wanted to do.'" The song travels through various decades, the first starting in the 20's, when that quote was written, travels to the 70's, where Neil is moving to London, and then to the 'present day' 90's when his friend had passed away. "It's just the sadness of having a close friend die, because I always thought he'd be somewhere there with me. When we were teenagers we would always discuss that we weren't going to settle for boring lives, we were always going to do something different. And then when it came down to it, I did become a pop star and at exactly that time he became very ill." Trivia * The band did not include this song on their 1991 world tour, and the fans made it known they were not happy with that. Guns 'N' Roses lead man Axl Rose was among those who complained that it was omitted. They did eventually start doing it as an encore subsequent tours. Videos The video was directed by fashion photographer Bruce Weber and is mainly candid footage taken in a house on Long Island. Cameo appearances include Eagle-Eye Cherry and Drena DeNiro, daughter of the actor Robert, and several models easily recognizable from magazines and commercials. Cover Versions by Other Artists * 1990 Autopulver (ARS) * 1996 Merrill Bainbridge (Gotham Records) she misreads the lyrics slightly * 1996 Exotron (EMI) * 2006 West End Girls * 2009 Sue Ellen - Sunday Hangover album Category:Singles Category:Songs Category:Behaviour